Ripper with top-mounted extendible tip

ABSTRACT

A ripper having a ground-engaging tip which may be progressively extended from its holder member to compensate for wear during use. The tip is externally mounted upon the top surface of a lower portion of the ripper shank and is held rigidly in place by means of ripper shank protectors which serve as frictional engagement members which clamp and hold the tip. The tip member is cut from common bar stock and has no apertures, detents, or other specially-machined and costly connector means.

United States Patent 1 1 Q Smith et al. 14 1 Aug. 7, 1973 [54] RlPPERWITH TOP-MOUNTED 2,885,014 5/1959 Hargis 172/719 EXTENDIBLE TIP FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [751 lm'emofsi $85: m a W 9,350 10 1933Australia 172/719 :1 eorIa,

[73] Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, 111. PrimaryExaminer-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder [22]Flled' Sept' 1971 Attorney-Fryer, Tjensvold, Feix, Phillips & Lempio[211 App]. No.2 183,952

{57] ABSTRACT 2% g 53 1 A ripper having a ground-engaging tip which maybe E d 61/726. 37/141 R progressively extended from its holder member tocome c pensate for wear during use. The tip is externally 719; 175/382306/1 6 mounted upon the top surface of a lower port1on of the rippershank and is held rigidly in place by means of ripper shank protectorswhich serve as frictional en- [56] References cued gagement memberswhich clamp and hold the tip. The UNITED STATES PATENTS tip member iscut from common bar stock and has no 3,092,052 6/1963 Anderson 172/713 Xapertures, detents, or other specially-machined and 3,550,691 12/1970Davies et a1. 172/719 X cosfl connector means 3,613,803 10/1971 Payne172/699 y 2,082,283 6/1937 Godfrey 172/713 6 Claims, 6 Drawing FiguresPATENIED W5 3.750.761

sum 1 or 3 INVENTORS 34 ROGER M. SMITH E LOYAL o. WATTS PAIENIED 7 'sum3 0F 3 ROGIER M. SMITH LOYAL O. WATTS BY 09 I 2 7 1 9 1 ATTORNEYS RIPPERWITH TOP-MOUNTED EXTENDIBLE TIP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a new and improved ripper construction forattachment to an earthmoving vehicle,

I or the like. More particularly, the invention is directed compensatefor use-related wear. The new ripper construction exhibits extraordinarystrength and wearability and Isparticularlysuitable for utilization insevere earthmoving applications.

Comparatively recent advances in earthmoving technology and strength ofmaterials have made earthripping operations an extremely important phaseof the art. The ripping operation, however, involves extremely highstress concentrations and costlymaterial wear on the ripper components,particularly the tip member. Typical prior art, wedge-shaped,telescopically-fitted ripper tips, such as is shown in US. Pat. No.3,203,488 to Eastwood, have generallybeen rather short-lived when usedto work difficult materials and replacement thereof in the field can betime-consuming and difficult.

In an attempt to increase the field life of the ripper tip and todecrease machine down-time and thus improve operational economy, ameanshas been devised whereby the ripper tip member may be advanced asit wearstoexpose new cuttingmaterial without complete replacement of ithe tipnsuch meansare shown, for instance, in US. Pat. No. 3,293,778, toMcAuliff and more recently in US. Pat. No. 3,550,69l issued to Davies eta]. andowned by the assignee of the instant invention.

These .arrangements, while quite satisfactory, are generally expensiveand require rather complicated manufacturing processes for both theripper shank or holder means and the tip member. For example, in theDavies et al. device, the solid shank member 21 and tip adapter 23 hadto be bored'through-to receive the circular cross-sectional tip member25 and the tip memberitself had to be similarly machined. Such machiningis, extremely expensive. The McAuliff device requires an even moreextensive process.

The instant design eliminates the need for boring round, square or othercross-sectional shaped holes through the lowerportion of the rippershank through which thetip member extends.By means of the simplemounting of the tip memberupona flat upperportion of therippershank'means, Applicants have eliminated the need forexpensive machiningand parts fabrication.

The present invention isprincipally directed toa new and improved ripperconstruction which provides an extendible ripper'tipmember which ismounted externally upon a ripper shank means and which does not requireexpensive machining of the component parts.

One of theobjects of this invention is to provide an extendible rippertip member for a ripper assemblage which issecured to the ripper shankmeans solely by clamping means which frictionally engage the tip memberduring use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ripper constructionwhich does not require a specially machined tip member.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an extendible rippertip member cut from available bar stock.

Still another object of the present invention is toprovide a ripperconstruction which provides a ripper tip member which is adjustablysecured to a top surface of a lower portion of the ripper shank means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ripper constructionwherein shank protector means serve the additional purpose offrictionally securing an adjustable tip member to the shank means.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ripperconstruction wherein the groundengaging tip member is secured to theripper shank means by a plurality of shank protector means whichfrictionally wedge the tip member into engagement with the shank means.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a ripperconstruction wherein a plurality of shank protector means are adjustablyheld against the shank means by means of rearwardlly extending strapsthrough which variable force may be exerted to urge said protector meansagainst said shank means.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of illustration, the preferredembodiments of the present invention and principles thereof. It isrecognized that other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same orequivalent. principles may be used and structural changes maybe made asdesired by those skilled in the art without departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view,partly in section, of the extendible-tip ripper assemblage of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 isa sectional view, taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and showingthe meansfor securing one of the shank protector means to the shankmeans;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken along line III-III of FIG. 1, andshowing the cross-sectional configuration of the upper portion of theshank means of the present invention; 7 a

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view, similar to FIG. 1, which shows analternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a further side elevational view. similar to FIG. 1, showinganother embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along theline VI-Vl of FIG. 5. a

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIG. 1, theinstant ripper assemblage, which is attached in the conventional mannerto an earthmoving device (not shown), is shown generally at 10. As shownin FIG. 3, the ripper shank portion has a box-like constructionconsisting of plate members l2, 14, 22 and 24 which are welded togetheror joined by other means. The assemblage also includes a downwardly andforwardly projecting, wedge-shaped nose or tip holder section 16 whichis of solid construction and which is welded to the lower end portionsof the plate members 12 and 14, as shown at 15. For positioning the noseportion prior to welding, a locating dowel 18 is provided. Thissimplifies replacement of the nose while in the field.

A tip member 20, of common bar stock having a rectangular cross sectionand appreciable length, rests upon the top surface 17 of the noseportion. This tip member projects rearwardly between the plate membersl2 and 14 and beneath the ends of plates 22 and 24, in close proximitythereto.

The means for retaining the ripper tip member 20 upon the nose portioninclude two U-shaped, combination shank protector and bracket members 26and 28. These bracket members are telescopically fitted over the noseportion 16, in wear protecting relation thereto, and over the tip member20, as shown in FIG. 2. The smaller bracket member 26, which is nearestto the junction between the shank portion and the nose portion, isretained upon the nose portion by means of a set screw 30 which isreceived in the counterbore 32 in the bottom of the nose portion 16. Thelarger of the two brackets, 28, is retained upon the nose portion bymeans of two such set screws 34. By tightening the set screws thebrackets are brought into forcible frictional engagement with the topsurface of the tip member 20 and with the bottom surface of the noseportion 16. The top surfaces of the bracket means 26 and 28 are hardenedand shaped so that they effectively protect the shank portion and tipmember from undue wear during use of the ripper assemblage.

In operation, when the frontal, ground-engaging portion of the tipmember 19 becomes worn in use, the set screws 30 and 34 are loosenedslightly and the tip member 20 is slidably extended forwardly down alongthe flat surface 17 of the nose portion to expose a fresh tip portion.The set screws are then tightened for use. Thus, it is seen that theembodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 provides an extendible tip assemblagewhich requires no expensive machining and which is extremely simple andefficient to operate.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a slightly different arrangement for retainingthe tip member 20 upon the flat upper surface of the nose portion 16 isshown. In this arrangement, the bracketmembers 126 and 128 are notretained upon the nose portion by means of set screws but rather bymeans of metal strap means 66 which are pivotally connected to thebracket means at 62 and 64. Set screws 68 are provided within a crossmember 70 which connects the strap means 66 on either side of the noseportion 16 and which, when tightened, draws the bracket membersrearwardly and downwardly into tight wedging engagement with the tipmember 20. It will be noted, particularly with reference to the bracketmember 126, that upon tightening of the strap means 66, the lines offorce exerted project rearwardly through the pivot connection 62 andtend to tip the bracket member forwardly and downwardly upon the topsurface of the tip member 20 to further increase the frictional lockingcapacity of the bracket member.

Turning now to FIGS. and 6, a similar but alternate retention system forthe extendible tip member is shown. In this arrangement, only oneU-shaped protector member 228 is utilized. Said protective member isadjustably retained on the nose portion 16 by means of a pair of straps166 which are adjustably connected to a cross pin 44 by means of thethreaded connectors 42 and nuts 48. The cross pin 44 resides in a bore45 in the nose portion 16. In addition to this retaining means, awedge-shaped block member 50 is provided which block member is disposedwithin the bos-like shank portion of the ripper assemblage and bearsforcibly upon the top surface 21 of the tip member 20. Force is appliedto the block member 50 by means of a threaded bolt 52 which is mountedin the threaded boss 54 which is welded to the plate member 22. The bolt52 is operated through an access hole 56 in the side plate 12 of theripper shank portion.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustratedand described, it is to be understood that these embodiments are capableof variation and modification and are not limited to the precise detailsset forth, but rather they include such variations and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A ripper device for use in an earthmoving vehicle which includes; ashank portion means and a ripper tip supporting means attached to saidshank portion means, said ripper tip supporting means having sidesurfaces and a bottom surface thereon and having a top surface spaced bysaid side surfaces from said bottom surface and lying in a plane whichis oblique to the plane in which said bottom surface lies, a rippper tipmember having a first surface thereon which frictionally engages saidtop surface, clamping means partially engaging said bottom surface foralso frictionally engaging a further surface on said ripper tip memberto force said first surface into tight engagement with said top surfaceand causing said first surface to lie in a plane oblique to the plane ofsaid bottom surface and for retaining said ripper tip member upon saidripper tip supporting means.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said shank portion means has ahollow construction and wherein said clamping means include meansprovided within said shank portion means for frictionally engaging saidfurther surface of said ripper tip member to selectively releasablyretain said ripper tip member upon said top surface of said ripper tipsupporting means.

3. The invention of claim 1 with, said clamping means being retainedupon said ripper tip member and said ripper tip supporting means bymeans of strap means and adjustable screwmeans which adjustably engage athird surface of said ripper tip supporting means.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said shank portion means has ahollow construction and wherein said ripper tip member extends into saidhollow construction.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said clamping means include aplurality of U-shaped protector members.

6. The invention of claim 1 wherein said shank portion means iscomprised of four plate-like members which are welded together to form abox-like structure.

. Q i t t t

1. A ripper device for use in an earthmoving vehicle which includes; ashank portion means and a ripper tip supporting means attached to saidshank portion means, said ripper tip supporting means having sidesurfaces and a bottom surface thereon and having a top surface spaced bysaid side surfaces from said bottom surface and lying in a plane whichis oblique to the plane in which said bottom surface lies, a rippper tipmember having a first surface thereon which frictionally engages saidtop surface, clamping means partially engaging said bottom surface foralso frictionally engaging a further surface on said ripper tip memberto force said first surface into tight engagement with said top surfaceand causing said first surface to lie in a plane oblique to the plane ofsaid bottom surface and for retaining said ripper tip member upon saidripper tip supporting means.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein saidshank portion means has a hollow construction and wherein said clampingmeans include means provided within said shank portion means forfrictionally engaging said further surface of said ripper tip member toselectively releasably retain said ripper tip member upon said topsurface of said ripper tip supporting means.
 3. The invention of claim 1with said clamping means being retained upon said ripper tip member andsaid ripper tip supporting means by means of strap means and adjustablescrew means which adjustably engage a third surface of said ripper tipsupporting means.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said shank portionmeans has a hollow construction and wherein said ripper tip memberextends into said hollow construction.
 5. The invention of claim 1wherein said clamping means include a plurality of U-shaped protectormembers.
 6. The invention of claim 1 wherein said shank portion means iscomprised of four plate-like members which are welded together to form abox-like structure.